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Quick Shopping Tips

When choosing a motherboard, consider the following:

Get the right socket for your CPU: You can find great CPUs from either Intel or AMD, but whatever processor you choose, make sure that your board has the correct socket to support it. The latest mainstream AMD chips use AM4 sockets while current Intel 8th Gen Core CPUs require an LGA 1151v2 sockets.

Smaller boards = fewer slots and features. Motherboards come in three main sizes, from largest to smallest: ATX, Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX (Yes, Mini is smaller than Micro). You can use a smaller chassis with the micro or mini boards, but you'll have to settle for fewer PCIe slots, RAM banks and other connectors.

You can spend under $100: You can find a good motherboard for less than $100, but if you want to overclock an Intel chip or you need a lot of ports, you will have to spend more, usually up to $150. High-end desktop chips like AMD Threadripper require expensive $200+ motherboards.

Pay for built-in Wi-Fi, high-end ports only if you need them. Don't spend extra for wireless if you are using a wired connection. You can future proof your PC by getting USB 3.1 Gen 2 and / or Thunderbolt 3 support.

What's considered the best/smallest mini-itx mb and case combo for the Ryzen5 2400G? No discrete vc will be used. I want this to be as transportable as possible.

rettinger

The Biostar X370 newegg link says that it's out of stock and may not be restocked. So, I'm not sure that's a helpful suggestion.

Soaptrail

Are AMD 470 motherboards not mass produced yet? Not one is on this list.

tyrii

Hi Thomas, There seems to be mistake on the pricing of the Asus ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming or the $80 price tag is for another motherboard.

thalian

1. The above comment is correct. I only WISH the Asus ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming mobo was available for $80!!! That link actually goes to Amazon's listing for the previous board: ASRock H370M PRO4 . 2. Why no other boards priced under $200? And why only 6 Intel mainstream LGA-1151 boards? There's a ton of them out there and there have to be more than 6 that are good to use.

tazmo8448

Yeah I'd like to see the AMD X470 boards reviewed too...as per Soaptrails post.

dahenger

AMD X470 please.

Jungstar

No full size b450 of b350 nor micro atx boards???

Frederic Jeanbart

Best X299... For Gaming. Ok. Now, when will there be a serious article for such high end motherboards that actually aren't made for gaming but rather content creation, engineering, etc.?

kep55

I agree with Frederic Jeanbart. I use my old Gigabyte MA770-UD3 based unit for work not wasting time. How about some info on work and mainstream mobos?

Frederic Jeanbart

Why don't you update this list, instead of solely modifying its date so as to make it look recent ? There are newer mobo on the X299 block...

Tanyac

Your data on the MSI XPower Gameing AC is incorrect.The board has 2 x Intel GBe LAN ports, not one.There are 3 motherboard mounted M.2 Slots. The firsts two come from the chipset, not the CPU. The third is from the CPU. The M.2 expander card anables you to connect another two M.2 drives via a PCIe slot to the CPU lanes.

mhamad.canaan

what about best Mobo for gaming that also supports generation 9 CPU?

vark8

WTF?! WHY is this missing x470 and b450?! Ppl are still buying 3 series?? I thought we have moved on to the 4 series???

comedichistorian

Asus used to dominate these comparisons but they barely have any representation for Intel and they've completely dropped off the face of the Earth in the X299 category.

DotNetMaster777

Intel Motherboards family seems to be good enough for this price !!

rolli59

Strange to only have mITX B450 board! I am sure most gamers are after ATX solution.

dennphill

I am with Jungstar...I don't see any B350 or B450 mATX boards. (I got the title, 'Toms Best Motherboards for 2019 by Socket and Chipset.' You need to add: '...and by form factor.' Thanks, anyway.

Soaptrail

Thanks for the update but 2 out of 4 AMD boards are not ATX size, interesting. Hopefully both these small boards have full size ATX variants.

g-unit1111

Yeah I was wondering about the ATX size as well. I would think the ROG Strix B450-F would qualify as one of the best ATX B450 boards, if not the best.

DMAN999

I own the Asus ROG Strix B450-F Gaming (with Ryzen 5 2600 and 16 GB G.Skill TridentZ RGB 3200) and I am very happy with it.It has every feature I needed and I got it for a Great price ($90).The MSI B450 Gaming PRO Carbon AC was the other MB I considered when putting this build together, it rated very well in quite a few reviews.